8 Things People with Clean Homes Do

Having a consistently clean home may seem like a pipe dream, but it is within reach with these eight things that people with clean homes do on a consistent basis.

1.) They Have a Routine

There is a rhythm to our lives. For the most part, we wake up, go to work, eat lunch, get home, and go to bed all around the same times each day. Something that people who have clean homes have figured out is that they can work some of their cleaning tasks into that rhythm, and it will help make sure their home is consistently clean. When I talk with and observe people who have consistently clean homes, it becomes clear they have both daily and weekly routines that they follow. Some of the most common routines are:

· Loading and running the dishwasher each evening

· Unloading the dishwasher each morning (to make sure it can be easily loaded throughout the next day!)

· Wiping down kitchen counters after dinner

· Picking up for 5 minutes before going to bed

· Doing laundry either one load a day, or all on one day of the week

· Taking 5 minutes to empty backpacks and sort papers right away when walking in the door

· Having 15-30 minutes of family cleaning time one morning each weekend before activities start

These are just a few of the most common examples of routines I have seen people do. There are dozens of ways you can work five to ten minutes of cleaning each day in to your household’s routine. They key is to find a block of time that will consistently work, and then start small with one new task getting added at a time until the routine becomes habit.

2.) They Divide Up Tasks

As important as it is to have a routine, it’s equally important that each person in the home know what their responsibilities are. There’s a reason the old saying is, “Many hands make light work.” By enlisting the help of each and every person in your home, it’s likely that the work will get done quicker, and it will also stay cleaner because each person has invested their personal time in to getting it clean in the first place.

Many times when I see homes that have gotten behind, it’s because one person is shouldering most, if not all, of the cleaning responsibilities. I’m a firm believer that, even if there is a stay-at-home spouse, the other spouse should still have at least a couple tasks they are responsible for around the house. I was also a child that grew up having to do a lot of cleaning chores around the house, so I don’t see many reasons that toddlers can’t start learning how to help around the home, and kids as young as three can’t have tasks they are responsible for each week. If you need help figuring out how to get your kids to help with household chores, you’ll want to check out the episode that Mighty Mommy and I did on this very topic.

3.) They Look for Shortcuts

When you walk in to someone’s home that is consistently clean, you may picture them scrubbing their floors on their hands and knees every day, or steam cleaning their bathrooms on a daily basis. While they may do those deep cleaning tasks on an occasional basis, it’s more likely that they are looking for the easiest way to keep their homes clean. In other words, they are looking for shortcuts.

Sure, your friend with a super clean house might hand dust her bookshelves each week, but it’s more likely that she’s quickly walking around with a Swiffer Duster most weeks, and then hand wiping her shelves once a month or so. She may have given up on doing full floor mopping of her hard floors years ago and now relies on spot cleaning using a microfiber spray mop. Don’t be afraid to ask your clean-house friends what their tricks are. They are likely pretty proud of the fact that you notice their house is clean, and are willing to tell you the shortcuts they have found work to keep it that way.